1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of keyboard devices. More particularly, the invention pertains to keying devices to be mounted on and operated by, a single hand.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are numerous references to keyboards in the art. Standard dual hand operated keyboards have been known for a long time. More recent references disclose keyboards intended for single handed operation. Single-hand operated keyboards are generally categorized into two types, single keystroke keyboards and chording keyboards. Single stroke keyboards, with the exception of upper case characters, generally rely on a single keystroke to fully define the output character, control or function. In contrast, chording keyboards rely on the simultaneous activation of two or more keys to define the output character, control or function.
Single-handed, single keystroke keyboards have a variety of methods for permitting such a keyboard to be relatively full functioned, that is, to provide all the same characters, computer associated controls, and word processing functions that are available on a standard two hand operated keyboard. One method of providing full functionality is to provide a sufficiently large number of keys to permit a one-to-one mapping of the keys to the characters, controls, and functions. The problem with this method is that the keyboard must be relatively large to accommodate the large number of keys required, and as a result the keyboard also becomes unwieldy.
A second method is to use a relatively small number of keys, each key being capable of sensing different directions of movement and producing output in response to the movements.
A third method of providing a single-handed, single keystroke keyboard with full functionality is to provide for "on the fly", user controlled, remapping of the keypad. Remapping allows the user to reconfigure a keypad so that each key takes on a different character, control or function dependent on the mode or lane chosen. In this way, a keypad having a small number of keys can be assigned a full complement of characters, controls and functions. In such a system, the modes or lanes are usually defined so as to group associated functions, i.e. for a single task, together, so the need to switch between the modes or lanes is reduced.
It is at this point that the difference between true single keystroke and true chording keyboards becomes blurred. Even simple, single keystroke typewriters provide a shift function which requires activation of two keys simultaneously. Alternatively, many of these typewriters also provide a CAP LOCK, which essentially places the keyboard in an upper case mode, a single keystroke entry resulting in upper case characters.
Most single-hand operated, chording keyboards, rely on the large number of chords that may be formed using combinations of the five fingers of the user's hand to provide a fully functional keyboard. Some of these keyboards additionally provide for shift and CAP LOCK operations. The large number of key combination, or chords, makes operation of the keyboard difficult to learn, requiring the operator to memorize by rote well over a hundred key combinations.
A few chording keyboards make provision for separate operating modes, i.e.. numerical/punctuation or word processing. To some degree, this alleviates the problem associated with rote memorization. In most cases, the mode switching is accomplished using a dedicated, thumb activated key, although in one case, switching is accomplished by depressing all of the finger operated keys simultaneously.
A single-hand carried and operated chording keyboard is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,181 to George. The George keyboard has both a finger and a thumb operated keypad. In George, the user grasps the pistol grip handle, the fingers wrapping around the front for activating the finger keypad, and the thumb extending up, over the top edge for activating the thumb keypad. The keys of the thumb keypad are used to shift between various keypad modes. The finger keypad allows for multiple fingers and has multiple keys per finger. The finger keypad waits until all keys are released to establish the chord. It does this by forming the chord from all the keys that were activated just before all the keys are released, and interprets this, in light of the mode, to determine what should be the appropriate output.
Other chording keyboards are disclosed in U.S. patents: U.S. Pat. No. 4,360,892 to Enfield for a Portable Word-Processor; U.S. Pat No. 4,791,408 to Heusinkveld for a Keyboard for One-Hand Operation; U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,910 to Guyot-Sionnest for an Electronic Keyboard For One-Hand Operation; U.S. Pat No. 4,971,465 to Hashimoto for a Keyboard For Use in An Information Processing Device.
Relatively few references address alternatives to the standard downward pressing finger movements generally used for activating the keys of a keyboard.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,384 to Spencer et al. for an Ergonomic-Interface Keyboard System shows a multiple keypad system, a keypad being provided for each hand. The keypads are oriented vertically, such that the user rotates her wrists 90 degrees axially from the usual operating position for a standard, horizontal, keyboard. The keys are activated in the usual manner, through downward movements of the various fingers, the plane of operation being vertical instead of usual horizontal operating plane. U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,516 to Allen for a Finger Operated Switching apparatus discloses a multi-directional, fingertip operated key. Each key has a multi-faceted surface which the user may engage by moving her fingertip in either: i) a downward pressing motion; ii) an extending away from the palm motion; or iii) a flexing inward, toward the palm motion. The different movements of a key result in the activation of different switches, which provides for several different outputs from any single key.
Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,732 to Dolnec discloses multi-directional, fingertip operated keys for use on a single keystroke keyboard. In this case the key is capable of moving back and front as well as side to side, in addition to being depressed. This keyboard has few modes to choose from, relying rather on upwards of eight keys per finger to permit full functionality. U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,557 to Runge shows the use of a variety of finger movements in addition to the usual downward pressing motion, intended to increase typing speed while decreasing mistakes. In Runge, the keys of a standard QWERTY type device are bent over, to surround the fingers, the fingers remaining on the home keys. This would allow, for example, a letter that is usually in the fourth row to be typed by simply lifting the finger that would normally be used to reach up to and then press down on that letter. This modified QWERTY keyboard, like all QWERTY keyboards, requires two hands to operate. With the exception of upper case, such keyboards generally rely on a single keystroke to define the output. In addition to Runge, Allen and Dolnec, discussed above, another single keystroke keyboard is disclosed in Retter, U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,573 for an Alpha-Numeric keyboard. Retter teaches away from Runge, suggesting that devices which lock the fingers into place, such as that disclosed in Runge, should be avoided.
The ability to remap a keyboard has been available in many keyboards in varying degrees. The simplest example is the shift or CAP LOCK key as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,265,557 to Runge, and 4,769,516 to Allen. This allows the normally lower case keys to be used to output upper case characters.
A more advanced version of mapping is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,001 to Vulcano for a Keyboard With One Hand Character Key Array And One Hand Mapping Array. In Vulcano, a first keypad is provided for entering data, the keypad being of an appropriate size and shape as to be operable by a single hand. A second keypad is provided for remapping the first keypad. This second keypad is also of an appropriate size and shape as to be operable by the user's other hand. The mapping allows the data entry keypad to be configured with various groups of functionally alike keys. Either an inordinate number of mappings must exist or the data keypad must be relatively large to accommodate, for example, all the characters for standard text entry operation. Other examples of remapping appear in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,791,408 to Heusinkveld and 5,059, 048 to Sirkin. In Heusinkveld, the keypad may be reconfigured from alpha to numeric/punctuation mode. In Sirkin, in addition to an alpha mode and a numeric mode, a word processing mode exists.
While single-hand operated keyboards have existed for sometime, few of these keyboards have achieved an intuitive mapping scheme between the keys and the desired outputs. Most of these keyboards have relied solely on the large number of combinations provided by a chording scheme to reduce the total number of keys on the keyboard to make one handed operation feasible. Those single-hand operated keyboards that do permit single keystroke entry have, for the most part, included so many keys as to become unwieldy, or used mapping schemes that required rote memorization of several entire keypads. The same problems have plagued keyboards which rely on a large variety of finger movements to reduce the total number of keys on the keyboard. Finally, only a couple of the disclosed keyboards provide for being carried and operated using a single hand.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a full function keyboard that may be carried on the user's hand, and operated by the fingers and thumb of that same hand, from any position in which the hand is held. The invention relies on a unique arrangement of keypads, along with an intuitive mapping scheme. The arrangement of the keypads permits the simplification of the mapping scheme. An additional benefit of the unique keypad arrangement is its dissimilarity to current keyboard design, thereby facilitating the process of transferring from conventional QWERTY key placement to the new key placement and operation. The mapping scheme is designed to be simple to understand, making it easy to remember and use. The keypad arrangement and mapping scheme provides for a reduced number of keys, and finger movements, without unduly requiring rote memorization.
Another object of the invention is to provide a light weight, easily transportable keyboard, which is carried on the user's hand and allows the user to keep the other hand free. Additionally, the shape of the keyboard housing, the fact that it is carried on the hand allowing it to be operated from any position, and the particular arrangement of the keypads all contribute to reducing and possibly eliminating the occurrence of repetitive stress injuries in the keyboard user. A final object of the invention is to provide a keyboard that may be used equally well on both the right and left hands.